NEW DELHI: What does playing for India actually mean for an athlete? At what point does physical pain become too much? When does the body simply say enough? The Indian teams at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, found themselves answering that question in their own way.Both the open and women’s teams had players battling illness during the tournament, yet both still walked away with medals – silver for the open team and bronze for the women. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, playing Board 1 for the open team, had already told TimesofIndia.com how he shook off a rare bout of cold and fever to help India secure team silver while also claiming an individual bronze.For Koneru Humpy, the ordeal was even tougher. The Board 1 player was under the weather for almost the entirety of the Olympiad, but still finished with 7/10 and two bronze medals, one for the team and another individually.
Playing through it
Speaking to this website after her double medal at the 46th edition of the Chess Olympiad, Humpy revealed that she had barely had any time to recover before illness struck.“It was quite tiring for me because I also played the Global Chess League (GCL) before the Olympiad and, before GCL, I played the US Cairns Cup and one WR event in France,” she said. “So I was at home just for four or five days in between, and in those days, I was also attending the online camp. The last two months have been quite a hectic schedule for me.”The toll showed up almost as soon as the only rest day (after Round 6) in the schedule had passed.
Koneru Humpy at Chess Olympiad (Photo by Michal Walusza for FIDE)
“After the rest day, I completely fell sick. I was having diarrhoea, stomach ache, then I was taking medicines. So it was really tough for me,” she revealed.What kept her at the board through it wasn’t stubbornness so much as a sense of duty to the team. “Probably if it was not representing India, if it was a private team event, I would have taken a rest and asked the other player to play,” she added. “But I felt like my presence was very important to hold on the top board, and since Vaishali was also not in good shape, I never had the thought of taking a rest. Somehow, I was just taking medicine and going and playing every day.“That struggle even made it onto camera, with a video from the event capturing the Indian chess legend taking her medication.“Oh, yes,” she recalled. “I could not get this antibiotic. I was having some other medicines. So somehow we managed to get it from one of our Indian friends. They just handed it to me before the game, so that’s how it came in the video.”Explaining what could have contributed to her condition, the 39-year-old added, “Probably since I’ve been eating food from outside for so many months, it kind of affected me. After starting this antibiotic, I think it was much better when I was playing the last round.“I think it’s very obvious when you have this outside food too much, because you can’t avoid it when you travel for tournaments. You have to eat in different places. Of course, as a teenager, you’ll be able to resist more. Probably when you age further, you’ll have more and more issues.”
The 25-move finish that sealed a medal
It was against that backdrop that Humpy produced one of the sharpest results of her campaign, a 25-move win over Georgia’s Nana Dzagnidze in the final round, despite everything her body had been through, to secure individual bronze.“In fact, I was surprised by her opening choice. I didn’t expect it at all,” she said with a laugh. “I played it over the board, and she made quite a big mistake, probably she just miscalculated and allowed this sacrifice. It was not working in the previous move, but when I played rook to h3 (18.Rh3), that was the intention. She had to just play king to h8 and escape from this mating net.“She missed a tactical resource in between that would have let her get away, so I think I managed to calculate well and accurately to finish off the game.”Humpy, playing on the toughest board available, expected a far tougher fight as she acknowledged, “I expected an even tougher fight in the final round and, looking at her opening choice, I felt like she’s well prepared and just wanted to hold the top board while the rest of the team fought it out. It seems that was their strategy, from what I saw of her opening.”
Koneru Humpy during her Round 11 match at Chess Olympiad (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE)
The win, though, didn’t come with much breathing room for India as a team.“As soon as I won the game, Divya blundered, allowing a big tactic for her opponent. It kind of didn’t give any big advantage for us because of her loss. But again, we got lucky with Savitha on the fourth board, where we were completely losing and then she managed to hold it,” she added.
Humpy’s best Olympiad personally, a difficult one for the team
Now that the dust has settled, Humpy rates this campaign as the strongest of her career on a personal level, even with the team falling short of a repeat gold.“When we started for the Olympiad, the expectations were high because of the previous gold,” she said. “But practically, it’s not easy to retain the title as a team. So I just wanted to take this tournament like any other classical event and give my best.”The Grandmaster, India’s No. 1 in the women’s section, continued, “If I compare all my Olympiads, probably this is the best one, because whenever I’ve played the Olympiad before, I’ve lost some rating. This is the first time I’ve gained rating and also won an individual medal in the tournament, and I stayed unbeaten on the top board. I think I played pretty decent; I’ve been very stable, not taking too many risks, and when there was a need for a win, I was able to deliver it in the final round.“As a team, though, she doesn’t mince words. “I think it was a big failure, because we also had Vaishali in bad shape. She lost two important, crucial matches, against Poland and Kazakhstan, and that actually affected the team result. We still had a chance against China. I can’t say we were unlucky, because we’ve been lucky many times on the fourth board,” Humpy elaborated.
Vaishali (on left) and Koneru Humpy (on right) play the top two boards for India (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE)
“We were losing in several games, probably four or five, but it just turned around completely, unexpectedly. So I’d say our crucial drawback was not having Vaishali in shape. Though we were very strong on paper, in practicality it was a bit handicapped without her; it was basically me and Divya as the main players, with Vantika and Savitha holding the third and fourth boards.”Asked directly whether the health scares or Vaishali’s form had been the bigger obstacle, she pointed past both to the sheer physical load of the schedule itself.“For me personally, it was more challenging to maintain the energy to play all the games, because I only took a break in round two. From then onwards, I played all nine remaining games, 10 out of 11 in total. It was also a difficult decision for the coaches, whom to place and whom to rest,” she recalled. “It used to take up a lot of time every day, but that call was completely theirs. I never interfered in those decisions, despite being a senior member.“
What’s next?
There’s no long break built in just yet.“I have the European Club Cup starting from October 17th, so I’ll play that,” she said. “So far, that’s all I’ve confirmed. After that, I’ll probably have some break in November.”As for the next Olympiad cycle, two years out, Humpy isn’t ready to look that far ahead.READ ALSO: ‘Sometimes in chess, there are just these blind spots’: Nihal Sarin looks back at his Chess Olympiad loss to Uzbekistan | Exclusive“I’m really not thinking about it,” she concluded, laughing. “It’s a long way to think. I don’t even know whether I’ll be playing very actively after two years. I hope, if I could, then I’d be very happy, but the competition at this level is also very high. I’m not even thinking too much further. I just take it tournament by tournament.”
